Violetta Armour

If you’re looking for a new author with a continuing mystery series (17 to date), you might consider Louise Penny. She creates a fascinating world in the fictional setting of Three Pines, a rural Canadian village south of Montreal, just kilometers from the Vermont border.

Named for the three stately pines in the center of the village, Three Pines appears idyllic, with no police force, no traffic lights, no sidewalks, and no mayor. The place doesn’t have ordinary crime—just the worst possible crime—murder, and on quite a regular basis.

The first murder to shatter the inhabitants of Three Pines occurs in Still Life (2005), which won numerous prestigious awards.

It is here where we meet the interesting residents and characters who continue to evolve in future books. Artist Peter who is often struggling with jealousy—not of a lover, but the with realization that his wife Clara may be the true artist in the family; Myrna who runs the used bookstore; Sarah and her delicious boulangerie; Ruth Zardo, the poet who is always good for a laugh with her inappropriate comments; and bistro owners Gabri and Olivier. (Caution: If you read all eight books straight through, you will probably add a few inches to your waistline, as the descriptive meals coming out of the bistro are tantalizing.) Hungry or not, your taste buds will be awakened. It appears that crime solving in Three Pines involves a lot of pondering over café au lait and warm croissants.

And that brings us to Chief Inspector Armund Gamache of the Surete du Quebec and his unique approach to solving a murder. “To catch a killer, you don’t necessarily move forward … you move back. Into the past. That is where the crime begins. Some event, perhaps long forgotten by everyone else, has lodged inside the murderer. And begun to fester. What kills can’t be seen … it’s not a gun, a knife, or a fist. It’s an emotion. Rancid, spoiled, gone wild, and waiting for a chance to strike.” As Gamache tries to uncover the source of that emotion, he befriends the villagers who often supply more evidence than fingerprints or DNA. Gamache, of course, has his own demons and fears. As his assistant Beauvoir says, “It is because of his own human frailties that Gamache is able to recognize them in others.”

I had the pleasure of meeting Louise Penny at the Poisoned Pen Bookstore in Scottsdale. She is charming and genuine, often with self-deprecating humor, which perhaps explains one of the reasons she is able to create and develop such fascinating, three-dimensional characters.

From her blog: In my life as a journalist, I covered deaths and accidents and horrible events. Now, every morning, I put the coffee on, fire up the computer, and visit my imaginary friends Gamache and Beauvoir and Clara and Peter. What a privilege it is to write.”

And what a privilege it is for us the readers to enjoy this Three Pines world Penny has created.

Although each book can be read on its own as a mystery, I recommend starting with the first one, Still Life, to fully appreciate the development of the recurring characters.

Reviewer Violetta Armour is former owner of Pages Bookstore in Ahwatukee. She has published five novels, including award-winning I’ll Always Be With You and her latest mystery, A Pickleball Poison. All are available on Amazon.